This invention relates to a process for decolorizing and/or deacidifying methyl bromide materials.
Methyl bromide, CH.sub.3 Br, is a colorless gas or liquid which has obtained worldwide acceptance as an agricultural fumigant. Methyl bromide is easily produced by the reaction of hydrobromic acid and methanol. The resultant methyl bromide material will generally contain a-predominant amount of methyl bromide, say 95 percent or above, and lesser amounts of water and HBr as impurities. Purification techniques are used to reduce the impurity content, however, in almost all cases, some water and HBr are unremoved. While the low levels of the remaining impurities are generally of little concern from the material's functional standpoint, they can still cause quality problems. For example, if the water and HBr containing methyl bromide material is stored in an iron or iron alloy container, it has been found that in some cases, the methyl bromide material becomes colored. The color ranges from light yellow to a dark brown. The intensity of the color appears to have some correlation with the time that the material is stored in the container.
There is resistance in the methyl bromide market to the purchase of colored material despite the fact that the colored material is still useful as a fumigant, etc. It would thus be beneficial to have a process for preventing the material from becoming colored and to have a process for decolorizing material which has become colored.